Agile Projects – As we have previously discussed making projects “Agile” has made it to the executives list of annoying buzzwords. The concept is bandied around in an attempt to try to explain how the business will deliver rapid working solutions in response to business problems and opportunities. In order to deliver what the business needs when it needs it, many organisations went down the Agile path without a clear understanding of how the agile methodologies work (or claimed to be “Agile” without any understanding what that actually means!) or what it takes to be successful and understanding the drawbacks. Many experienced and excellent Project Managers have found themselves in difficulties when an organisation is trying to blindly implement a non- scoped project or an Agile project after buying into the described benefits and completely overlooks the associated risks.
- Agile does not guarantee success
- Agile is not suitable for every kind of work/ project
- Traditional management approaches are often not working when following the Agile philosophy
From a project management perspective one of the most important aspects to start with (beside organisation’s culture) is to determine what will be the critical factors that will influence your success when using an Agile approach. Exercising awareness and control over the following factors will allow not only better decision making when it comes to choosing the right project management methodology but also to steer ongoing projects towards success.
1. Acceptance of the Agile philosophy before starting work
It is important that senior management understands and accepts the Agile philosophy. This includes the concept that in order to deliver the right thing at the right time and handle change dynamically, less than 100% of the possible solution may be delivered at the end of the project – this needs to be agreed with all stakeholders upfront. Once an Agile project has commenced – senior management cannot decide that Agile outcomes are not enough.
2. Appropriate empowerment of the solution Development Team
The senior business management must agree to delegate decision-making to the business advisors inside the solution Development Team. If this is not possible they will need to be included in the team. Without this kind of empowerment the team will be drastically slowed down as they will be waiting for decisions to be made elsewhere and in different timeframes. Similar to the business advisers being empowered to make decisions without referral to higher authorities outside the team, the solution developers should also be empowered to make decisions regarding the solution development. As it is not realistic to assume that these parties will have total freedom for decision-making, it is important to agree the decision boundaries beforehand and have them transparent.
3. Commitment of senior business management to ensure the necessary involvement of key business advisers
The business stakeholders commitment and agreed participation is critical to successful Agile projects as they will be providing guidance (i.e. low level requirements, prioritisation, feedback on implemented solution increments) during development iterations.
4. Incremental delivery
To enable early return of investment and reduce risks the projects must be planned and executed following an incremental approach. This will allow the business to take (or transition to) the solution in manageable chunks and will allow the solution Development Team to build on firm foundations with short feedback loops.
5. Access of the solution Development Team to business roles
Agile focuses on people and their interactions as it recognises that efficient communication is critical for success. That is why the team co-location and business advisors integration inside the solution Development Team are not only advisable, but required.
6. Solution Development Team stability
People working together develop working relationships that pay off in a wide range of vectors like communication and process efficiency. Swapping people in and out will represent a great risk for the success of an Agile project. Of course, specialists may be called in as long as the core team remains stable.
7. Solution Development Team skills
As Agile advocates cross functional teams, it is important that the solution Development Team contains all necessary skills to deliver the solution, including business knowledge. However, that does not mean that every team member should have all required skills but a subset of them coupled together with strong communication skills. The latter are an essential component of a high performing team.
8. Solution Development Team size
Agile teams rely on strong informal communication. For this to be effective Agile suggest the team optimal size to be seven plus/ minus two team members. This size appears to maximise ownership and minimise risk inside the team. Based on project specifics, a smaller or a larger team may work better. In any case, risks associated to the team size must be considered, communicated and agreed beforehand.
While the above described factors tackle the project management aspect of an Agile adoption their control alone will not guarantee success. The most important transformation when it comes to Agile transitions has to happen in people’s mindset and in the organisation’s culture. Without a proper mindset and a supportive organisational culture, using Agile to deliver projects might be a big contradiction.
So next time you start a project ask yourself this question: “Are we an organisation that blindly applies Agile or are we aware and in control of the factors that will influence our success?”
